Target first electoral system, now justice
Biden: “Donald Trump threatens our democracy”
31.05.2024, 20:05
Listen to article
This audio version was artificially generated. More info | Send feedback
Trump is the first US president to be found guilty in a criminal trial. He then lashes out at the justice system. The incumbent president takes up the idea and describes the danger posed by Trump. Both politicians are trying to collect money in their exchange of blows.
In response to the historic verdict against Donald Trump in the hush money trial, US President Joe Biden has described his predecessor as a threat to democracy. The ex-president and likely Republican presidential candidate “threatens our democracy,” he said on his personal account on X. “First he questions our electoral system. Then he questions our legal system. And now you can stop him,” he wrote – and called for donations to support his election campaign.
On Thursday, Trump became the first former president in US history to be found guilty in a criminal trial. A good five months before the presidential election in the USA, the jury found the 77-year-old guilty on all 34 counts in the hush money case. The sentence is to be announced on July 11.
Trump criticized the trial against him as “very unfair.” “You saw what happened to some of the witnesses who were on our side – they were literally crucified,” the right-wing populist said on Friday in a speech in New York, in which he described US President Joe Biden and his “gang” as “sick” and “fascists.”
Biden has so far held back
In the first few hours since his conviction, Trump says he has received millions in donations. During his appearance, he spoke of 39 million dollars (36 million euros), mainly from small donors. In the morning, his campaign team had given a slightly smaller figure: 34.8 million dollars in donations had been received since the verdict, they said.
After the verdict, the White House said it respected the rule of law. Biden has so far largely refrained from commenting on Trump’s legal problems – he does not want to fuel his rival’s accusation that the proceedings are politically motivated.
Trump is facing criminal charges in three other cases. Two of them involve his attempts to retroactively overturn his 2020 election defeat to Biden, and the third involves his taking secret government documents to his private residence in Florida. However, it is completely unclear when the trials in these cases could begin.